


embers (we met in the darkness)

by absolutelyamethyst



Category: Star Wars Original Trilogy, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: First Kiss, Force-Sensitive Finn (Star Wars), Force-Sensitive Poe Dameron, Gen, I'm tagging it so I have to write it, I've always wanted to try writing Jessika Pava so here we are, Leia Organa Needs a Hug, M/M, Mutual Pining, Slow Burn, Soulmarks, Soulmates AU, and because it's me writing we also have, and so does the entire Resistance, author absolutely cannot decide which ST ship she likes the best, first finnpoe adventure!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-15
Updated: 2020-09-15
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:27:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,070
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26475670
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/absolutelyamethyst/pseuds/absolutelyamethyst
Summary: A soulmark.It’s a smallish thing, inky black against his skin, and strangely cold to the touch, even though the rest of him is warm. Pressing his thumb against it, he can almost feel a sensation like an echo, a bounce, a call--a summoning to...something out there, someone out there. The mark’s match.Poe shivers.He has a soulmate.
Relationships: Poe Dameron/Finn
Comments: 2
Kudos: 22





	embers (we met in the darkness)

The day Poe gets his soulmark is a really, really bad one. 

And the dumbest part is, he doesn’t even notice it at first--doesn’t notice it for days. The mark’s appearance is nothing like he’d dreamed--hoped--it would be. There’s no sensation on his arm, no tingling, no gentle warmth. He wears long-sleeves all the time, and he’s trapped on Jakku for two days after the crash. He’s got a lot on his mind. 

But then, on D’Qar, he gets a moment to breathe and he showers (doesn’t notice it then either, his arm’s sunburned and his skin hidden beneath scars and dirt and grime) and changes clothes. The fabric sits uncomfortably on his skin, feels like sandpaper as it rasps over his arm, and as he pulls back the sleeve to itch at a particularly nasty scratch… there it is. 

A soulmark. 

It’s a smallish thing, inky black against his skin, and strangely cold to the touch, even though the rest of him is warm. Pressing his thumb against it, he can almost feel a sensation like an echo, a bounce, a  _ call-- _ a summoning to...something out there,  _ someone  _ out there. The mark’s match. 

Poe shivers.

_ He has a soulmate.  _

He’s not old, but he’s not young either, and they’re in a war and he’s done some maybe not good things in his life, and maybe...he’s always assumed there was no one out there for him. War isn’t the place for hope. It’s not the place for love either, but...well.

He looks around their tiny corner of the planet, but there’s no one else with his mark. Which doesn’t make any sense, because he always heard that the marks came after you met them--met your person. And he’s...not been much of anywhere besides D’Qar, really. 

Unless you counted getting captured and tortured by the monstrous head of the First Order. And his goons. And the goons’ goons. 

Funny how you can forget a little detail like that. 

“Forget”--as if he could. His wounds are still healing. It’s been  _ days.  _ It still hurts to move. 

And yet, when the call comes, when they’re sent to Takodana, Poe goes without question. Why wouldn’t he? It’s not like he’s the only one to come through their recent battles with scars--mental and physical ones. He’s fine, no matter what anyone else says. 

Okay, that’s a lie too. But he doesn’t have time to stop and sulk over...everything. He  _ really  _ doesn’t, because the First Order is already on Takodana by the time they arrive and the rest happens so fast that it all sort of blurs together in the end, and Poe’s really not one to give into fear but they have everything and nothing all at once. Finn and Han Solo and BB-8 are back in their protection, but they lose Rey--someone Finn seems to care about deeply. 

And that means there’ll be another mission soon, and that means flying, which Poe’s never cared about,  _ ever,  _ except that now… now, something is different. 

His heart beats faster when he looks at Finn, fast enough that even looking at Finn is hard because he  _ knows,  _ knows in a way he  _ shouldn’t,  _ that Finn can tell. And Poe feels like a child. He’s a  _ pilot  _ and more than that an  _ adult,  _ not some lovesick teenager with a crush. 

And yet…

_ Mark be damned.  _ He doesn’t have time for this. 

Poe stops walking. 

The business of the base is still humming around him when the thought slams into his brain, resonates in his chest. The soulmark thumps once, twice on his forearm and Poe resists the urge to tug up his sleeve and look down at it. He forces himself to start walking again, but every step feels slow, mechanical and he ends up ducking into a darker corner just to have the space to breathe. 

He exhales, a thousand pounds weighing on his chest, and pulls up his sleeve. The mark is hard to see, lit only by the thin stream of light coming in from one of the slats in the shelf above him, but it’s still there--still dark, still small, slit and curving at the top, like the beginning of a bursting flame. 

Something constricts in his chest, tightens and twists, and he suddenly finds it very hard to breathe. 

He leans forward.

The knowledge is just...there all of a sudden, proud and gleaming at the forefront of his mind. Finn.  _ Finn  _ is his match--his soulmate, the holder of the mark identical to his own. But if he is, why hasn’t he said anything? Is it possible he doesn’t know? 

That’s...not possible, right?

The thing in Poe’s chest goes cold, and he realizes after a moment of panic that it’s fear--anxiety, but so much stronger and so much more intense than his own that it almost makes him completely freeze. 

He manages to wiggle out of the corner he’s in without getting a weird look from Jess or Snap (neither of them are anywhere to be found in the hangar, and Poe’s fine with that), moves through the hall with every intention of getting to Finn as soon as possible. 

He’ll sort this out, then maybe he can think about his upcoming (impending) mission with a clear head. And maybe--

“Poe?” A familiar voice stops him, and Poe stares at the floor, curses softly before looking up to acknowledge the pilot standing in front of him. Jessika Pava stares at him with suspicious, squinting eyes. He looks down and realizes he’s got his hand around his bare forearm, gripping at his mark. 

“Hey, Jess,” he greets, tries to sidle around him but she doesn’t let him. “Look, I’ve gotta get bye--”

“Hells no,” Jess snarls, her lip curling, and even though her eyes twinkle good-naturedly, something twinges in Poe’s stomach. “Back to the hangar, flyboy. You and I are gonna have a talk.” 

He follows her gaze down to his arm, then slowly removes his hand to reveal the mark. Jess gasps a little, but hides her surprise almost immediately, her features cloaking to a neutral sympathy--a compassion not often seen in her fierce persona. 

He’s in trouble now--big trouble. 

He sighs, but follows Jess as she walks back into the hangar, pushes the soulmark--and Finn--to the back of his mind, for now. 

**Author's Note:**

> ahhhh poe baby pls stop being angsty and go save the world or somethin'
> 
> anyway
> 
> i'm giving this multiple chapters but i have 0 plans so buckle up i guess


End file.
